MILWAUKEE — It won’t be “cooler by the lake” this weekend, as a heat wave heads to Southeast Wisconsin. The National Weather Sevice issued an extreme heart warning that will take effect at Noon on Saturday until Monday at 7:00 p.m. for Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha counties. A heat advisory will be in effect for the remaining counties.
WTMJ Meteorologist Craig Koplien on Wisconsin’s Morning News says the lakeside counties will be most effected because they are considered an “urban heat island“, which is a term meterologists use to describe urban areas that have more pavement that can retain heat. “In areas that have more pavement, more roads, more sidewalks, more parking lots, they tend to not only heat up faster, but retain more heat overnight so there’s a head start on the next day’s high temperatures as well.”
Koplein also says that with the winds being strong coming from the southwest, this will keep the normally cooler air off the lake from reaching land.
He also warns that these long stretches of high heat can be dangerous health-wise. “Especially in situations where the heat lasts days upon days upon days, there’s a lack of ability for, especially for people without air conditioning or outside doing strenuous activities, to recover enough, or the cumulative effects of long term hot and humid weather on the body that becomes a danger.”
